Your Health is at Risk. Here's What to Do About It

Exercise work zones 

If several of your close blood relatives have had heart at­tacks before the age of sixty, you're likely to have one too unless you eliminate all the other possible risk factors. 

Don't have a fatalistic view about heart disease because so many of your close relatives died young from heart attacks. 

Chances are your ill-fated parents or siblings smoked, were overweight, were diabetic with poor sugar control, had el­evated cholesterol levels, and rarely exercised. 

Genes are only part of the story. Regardless of your genetic vulnera­bility, correcting any obvious abnormalities will improve your outlook considerably.

Regular exercise. Regular exercise that's sufficiently rigorous protects the coronary arteries. 

However, you've got to pay attention to the other risk factors as well. Dr. William Castelli, the di­rector of the Framingham Heart Study, estimates that half the doctors running in the Boston Marathon have abnormal cholesterol levels—and don't know it!

You're most likely to stay with your exercise program if you enjoy it. Few people will continue for very long with a regimen that they find boring. Brisk walking for thirty minutes a day or vigorous gardening are enough. 

If you prefer, you may also run, jog, dance, bike, or swim, pro­vided your doctor has cleared you to do so. 

Walking briskly for about three miles (you can pick any other form of ex­ercise) was found to reduce the risk of a heart attack by 64 percent in male Harvard alumni. (Graduates of Princeton, Yale, and Cornell can probably expect the same good re­sults.)

Aerobic exercises Aerobic exercises such as walking or running (as opposed to stretching and weight-lifting) exert their beneficial effect in several ways: 

• they lower your resting heart rate and blood pressure, thus easing the burden on your heart; 
• they reduce cholesterol and triglycerides
• raise the good lipoproteins and lower the bad lipoproteins; 
• they drop the blood sugar in diabetics; 
• they help prevent osteoporosis; 
• they decrease the proportion of body fat; they reduce stress and improve mood. 
• All in all, exercise is a good prescription against heart attack.

Besides improving your physical health and increasing your longevity, exercise can have short-term and long-term psychological benefits. Physical activity can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression and improve mood and well-being.

What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.

Control Your Destiny - Know the Key Differences Between Being Stressed or Depressed

Stressed or Depressed

Juggling multiple medications, always watching what you eat, ensuring you get enough exercise, and your daily routines can cause stress and, in some cases, depression. 

So how do you know if you're depressed or just stressed? There are some key differences.

Stressed
Stress is your body's physical response to high-demand situations that you have little or no control over, such as dealing with a chronic disease. Stress isn't all bad - on the upside, it can make you feel energetic and focused. 

On the downside, if you're constantly stressed, you may experience health problems overtime: high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and premature aging.

Depressed
Depression is more than just feeling blue - it's a serious medical condition. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, you're twice as likely to suffer from depression as someone without the disease. 

Only your doctor can tell you for sure, but if you have several of these symptoms for more than two weeks, you may be depressed:

• Feeling nervous or emotionally empty
• Feelings of excessive guilt or worthlessness
• Tiredness or a "slowed down" feeling
• Restlessness and/or irritability

You may need help from a mental health professional if you suffer from depression. However, stress is manageable. So, are you ready to lower your stress level?  Try these tips:

Slow down. 
Make time each day to sit quietly, preferably for at least 15 minutes. Focus on breathing deeply. Think pleasant thoughts.

Just relax. 
Have you ever been surprised to notice your jaw was clenched or your shoulders were tight? We tend to be tense without even realizing it. Try this: Lie down and, starting at your feet, clench each muscle group for a count of 10, then relax - all the way up your body.

Move your body. The best stress buster around is exercise. Take a walk, work in the yard, go to the YMCA ... you'll feel the benefits instantly.


Any comments? Leave them below.

Who’s at Risk for Stroke?

My mother had a stroke in the early 80s but miraculously recovered after being in a coma for 10 days. I use the term miraculously because the doctors said that she likely would not recover and that we should get prepared for her death.
However, my brother and I prayed everyday for her recovery and she recovered. Not only  did she recover, but she didn't show any after affects of having a stroke and lived for about 10 more years before dying of natural causes. I was very fortunate to get her to the emergency room in time.

Frequency of Strokes in the U.S.
Of the approximately 795,000 strokes that occur in the United States each year, about 610,000 are first strokes, and 185,000 are recurrent attacks.

Although the incidence of strokes has declined significantly since the 1960s, the strokes that do happen are just as severe. In fact, strokes  are a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States.

Risks of Having a Stroke
The odds of having a stroke more than double every 10 years after age 55. More than two-thirds of strokes involve people over 65. If you have a stroke, the risk of dying from it also increases with age. 88% of deaths from strokes are in people 65 and older.

Women have about 55,000 more strokes than men each year, and women make up about 60% of stroke deaths. Race is another risk factor. African Americans, for example, are almost twice as likely to suffer a stroke as are whites.

Warning Signs of Having a Stroke
Everyone should learn the following warning signs of stroke. If you experience any of these symptoms, immediately dial 911 or go to an emergency room:

• weakness in an arm, hand, or leg
• numbness on one side of the body
• sudden dimness or loss of vision, particularly in one eye
• sudden difficulty speaking
• inability to understand what someone is saying
• dizziness or loss of balance
• sudden, lasting, excruciating headache.

Do you have any thoughts on this subject. Leave your comments below.

12 Steps for Managing Stress

We all experience it at one time or another; this condition is called stress.  

It is perhaps the number one cause of most health problems today including ulcers, coronary heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, lung problems, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. 

Anti-anxiety drugs and ulcer medications are among the best selling prescription drugs in the United States. 

Nevertheless, stress is the process of living. The process of living is the process of having stress imposed on you and reacting to it without allowing it to cause any of the above health problems. 

Now let’s explore the 12 steps for managing stress in your life in a healthy and effective manner.

1. Talk about the problems you are experiencing with friends, loved ones, or a professional. Keeping everything bottled up will only create more problems later on.

2. Exercise. Exercise relieves tension and produces a calming effect.

3. Take a bath. A warm bath can be very relaxing and soothing.

4. Music can be calming. Listen to some soft jazz or instrumental music. Ocean or nature sounds also are a good way to release stress.

5. Healthy meals can become an important factor in limiting your stress.  Try to eat three meals a day (no heavy meals), and make an effort to avoid too much caffeine and sugar.

6. Sleep deprivation can cause stress. Six to seven hours sleep can often make all the difference.

7. Coping with stress can be challenging.  Every day you seem to be pulled in every direction, trying to accommodate others.  

The first priority is to take care of yourself. You are the thread which holds your family together. If you are stressed, you won’t be much good to anyone

8. Give yourself a break every now and then.  Buy a new outfit; go to a movie; do something you’ve always wanted to do.  Your family can take care of themselves for one day.  

Alone time is just as important to you as it is for everyone else.  Think of yourself as a gas tank; eventually you will run out of fuel.

9. Laughter is a wonderful release. Releasing tension through laughter is one the best cure-all method for dealing with stress-related issues.

10. Avoid stressful situations whenever possible.  If you are a working parent, it’s probably not the job but the people who are causing you the most stress.  Take everything in stride.

11. If you can’t finish a task, don’t worry about it.  If dinner doesn’t turn out as you expected, improvise or pick up something.

12. Life is too short; and stress can reduce it further.  Nothing is more important than your health or state of mind.


How well are you handling stress? Do you think these steps can be helpful?

Leave your comments below. 

What You Need to Know About Strokes

A stroke occurs when arteries that supply the brain with blood becomes blocked , preventing blood flow. I had first hand experience with this situation when my  mother had a stroke. After being in a coma for nearly ten days she recovered completely and lived ten more years without any after effect.  The doctors and I agreed, it was a miracle.

Of the approximately 795,000 strokes that occur in the United States each year, about 610,000 are first strokes, and 185,000 are recurrent attacks. Although the incidence of stroke has declined significantly since the 1960s, the strokes that do happen are just as severe. In fact, stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States.

The odds of having a stroke more than double every 10 years after age 55. More than two-thirds of strokes involve people over 65. If you have a stroke, the risk of dying from it also increases with age: 88% of deaths from stroke are in people 65 and older.Women have about 55,000 more strokes than men each year, and women make up about 60% of stroke deaths. Race is another risk factor. African Americans, for example, are almost twice as likely to suffer a stroke as are whites.

Although you can’t change your age, gender, or race, you can take steps to reduce other risk factors for stroke, especially ischemic stroke. The most common risk factors for both ischemic stroke and TIAs are high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, unhealthy cholesterol levels, obesity, and cigarette smoking. All of these factors affect the health of your blood vessels—increasing the risk not only of stroke, but also of heart disease. That’s why medications and other steps you take to reduce the risk of an ischemic stroke will also benefit your heart.

Some types of hemorrhagic stroke are more likely to occur in people with chronic high blood pressure.. But other types of hemorrhagic stroke seemingly strike out of the blue. Although abnormal blood vessel conditions such as an aneurysm (a bubble in the blood vessel wall that could rupture) or an arteriovenous malformation (an abnormal tangle of blood vessels) increase the risk, these conditions may only be discovered inadvertently while you are undergoing testing for something else—or may not be discovered until a stroke occurs.

Here are the warning signs and symptoms of stroke:

• weakness in an arm, hand, or leg
• numbness on one side of the body
• sudden dimness or loss of vision, particularly in one eye
• sudden difficulty speaking
• inability to understand what someone is saying
• dizziness or loss of balance
• sudden, lasting, excruciating headache.

If you or a loved one experience any of these symptoms, immediately dial 911 or go or get that person to an emergency room immediately.



Have you had an experience like this? Leave you comments below.